


Praise you

by Kay245



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arya is her fierceless self, F/M, Jon and the Starks Are Not Related, Jon is a bit clueless, Sansa has unladylike thoughts, Theon and Sansa ae best friends, Theon is shameless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-01-31 05:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12675630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kay245/pseuds/Kay245
Summary: At a sunny day at the Starks, Theon starts grilling Sansa about her hidden feelings for Jon Snow. Arya soon joins and they debate whether or nor Jon's is Sansa's type. Sansa tries to deflect the situation but her sister and best friend keep a tight wtach on her. Will Sansa manage to prevent the situation from exploding? And what about Jon Snow?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OK, so I'm feeling quite inspired right now so, look my first dabble into a real AU! 
> 
> Because we are in a modern setting, the characters are quite aged up with Robb, Jon and Theon being in their early thirties, Sansa and Arya being in their mid-to-late twenties and Rickon and Bran finishing High school.
> 
> So in this story, Jon and Robb have been best friends since they were children, went to college and then law school together.  
> Sansa has majored in PR and interned at the Mockingbird firm under Baelish before she went and worked at Bolton & Bolton, a well-known investment bank.  
> There she worked as the personal assistant of Ramsay Bolton, who psychologically harassed her. She also met there Theon Greyjoy who worked for several years as Ramsay right-hand. When finally Sansa broke down nervously, her family requested the help of Jon, who specialised both in business and labour law.  
> Theon bonded with Sansa when she discovered that Ramsay used his still not out-homosexuality to pressure him into doing his dirty work (such as for example, bribing ex-employees that had been harassed by Ramsay). He testified against Ramsay during the trial. He also partnered with Sansa to create their own investment-banking fund.  
> Arya studied at the Westerosi equivalent of West Point before being honourably discharged and becoming a security consultant on her own.
> 
> I know that canonically Sansa is supposed not to be that good at math. However, I decided that while she wasn't extremely good at it, she wasn't either poor. Her involvement in investment banking came into being when Littlefinger suggested to her to 'broaden' her horizon and to apply to be Ramsay's assistant. From the horrible year she spent as his assistant, she did learn quite a bit about investment though, and when Theon proposed that they create a fund of their own, she accepted. She mostly deals with the client's relationship part of the business.
> 
> Well, now I hope you like it.

“Baby, once again, tell me why you’re not hitting  _ that _ ?”

 

Sansa lifted her eyes from the avocado mix that she was slowly turning into guacamole to see Theon wildly gesturing towards the pool a few feet away. She had just the time to catch the sight of Jon Snow, all wet curls, lean built and ripped abs - and dear gods, how could he possibly have such defined abs when he was working 15 hours a day behind a desk? - exiting from the pool in a scene that wouldn’t have been misplaced in a Bond movie. She felt herself blush and bit on her lips as her mind started wandering to very, very naughty thoughts of how she would like to dry that six-pack. And well, it didn’t involve a towel but a more torturous way including her hands, her lips and maybe, if Jon dared chastising her with his puppy dogs eyes, her teeth. Theon sent her a knowing look before laughing out loud at her irritated expression. She almost opened her mouth to brazenly deny any dirty fantasy she might have about her brother’s best friend - and sure, now, they were likely reaching the hundred mark. Yet, at the smirk curving Theon’s mouth, she remembered wisely that for all his easy-going, trashy behaviour, her friend was as much a shark as they came. Instead, she returned to her preparation, slowly mixing the avocado with the tomato pulp.

 

“Would you tear your mind out out of the gutter and maybe help me a little? I’m sure you can increase your level of feminism past from ‘sexual liberation’ to actually derogating to ‘women in the kitchen’ stereotypes.” she replied instead, hoping that her uppity justice-warrior side will steer them away from any discussions of her ridiculous and totally forlorn designs on one Jon Snow, of the brooding presence, long soulful gazes and miracles in the courtroom.

 

“Nuh-uh, baby.” he refused. “This sort of thing might work on your very old-fashioned, macho mucho big brother of yours, but not me. I’d even say that I’m sure that Germaine Greer would be turning in her grave if she knew you’d use feminism as a way to deflect from serious conversations.” he chuckled back at her.

 

She gave him the evil eye. Not much for his assessment of her big brother, as for all his sweetness and gentlemanly manners, Robb was still a bit stuck on the traditional side of gender’s roles. No, it was because, of course Theon wouldn’t let himself be distracted. As she’d reminded himself, he was a shark and a shark wasn’t going to let anything come between itself and its prey once it smelled blood. She’d just really,  _ really  _ rather not be the helpless, bleeding swimmer in the ocean.  _ Well, at least, you can sure try and bat him away _ , she thought as she brandished the whip she was using for her preparation at him. He laughed at her more but hopped on the counter as he said:

 

“Baby, I might be gay, but I’m still pretty much part of the patriarchy, you know?” he winked at her as she rolled her eyes. “But well, I guess I can at least prepare the cocktails. What would be your poison? Gin tonic, to go with your regal standoffishness?” he said.

 

She arched an eyebrow at him and replied:

“I’m sure that if you intend to fix us drinks, you’d better be behind the counter rather than on it. Also, prepare some Margarita. It would go much more nicely with what I’m making and would work better if your intention is to ply me with alcohol.”

 

At that, Arya entered the open kitchen, a towel draped around her shoulders but still dripping carelessly on the floor. Sansa sighed internally, knowing that she’ll have to take mop to the puddle before the disaster waiting to happen did indeed happen. Arya, unconcerned by the mess she was leaving, turned her big baby grey eyes toward Theon and belowed:

 

“I knew it! I knew that your recent nice-ish manners and sudden coming-out were nothing but a front for malicious designs! And now, I’ve discovered your evil plans to seduce my sister and surely steal all of her parts in your joint-business!” 

 

Arya’s eyes were narrowed and brimming with malice and anyone who didn’t know her would surely believe that she was out for blood. However, for all her outward aggressiveness and apparent distrust of Theon, there was a deep begrudging affection for the man that had helped her sister escape the clutches of Ramsay Bolton. Theon, fortunately, had quite evolved from his asshole ways when he was younger and still struggling with his sexual preferences, and didn’t take badly the remark but rather cheekily endorsed the role of the villain.

 

“Well, yes of course, that’s my evil plan! And then, I will make disappear all the carefully constructed conditions that exist in our business contract. And with a wave of my magic wand, I will turn the Rottweiler that you call brother into a fluffy puppy before he has the time to drag and carve me in court!” he said, punctuating his tirade with an evil laugh and grand dramatic gestures.

 

Arya ignored the lewd joke about Theon’s magic wand and just stared at him fixedly as he ascertaining the best ways to kill him.

 

“I see you Theon Greyjoy! I see you!” she pointed her fingers first at her eyes and then at him, while her eyes squinted in dramatic threat.

 

Sansa rolled her eyes at their antics and the both of them burst out laughing. Then Arya came next to Theon and sniffed at the margarita he was preparing. She crinkled her nose but indicated to him to serve her a shot. She also tried to sneak a taste of Sansa’s guacamole but got rebuffed by a small smack on her hand. At Sansa’s pointed look, she mumbled a few words around being too young to be their mom’s yet but refocused instead on trying out the beverage fixed by Theon.

 

“That’s waaaaaaay too dry.” she says, grimacing a bit, because as fierce as she was, Sansa knew that her little sister had something of a sweet tooth. 

 

Theon shrugged a bit, his smile full of mirth and adjusted the dosage a bit before serving Arya again. This time, her nose didn’t crinkle in distaste and Theon winked at Sansa before preparing more jugs of drink.

 

“So, beside your evil plans to conquer the world, what were you talking about?” Arya asked as she eyed critically the cocktail mixing.

 

Theon stopped the shaker and served Arya another shot before answering.

 

“Nah, conquering the world is not really my MO, I let that to the actual sociopath in your sister’s life.” he said carelessly and Sansa could feel the easiness of her day dim a bit at his mention of Littlefinger. Theon caught on his faux-pas and quickly squeezed her hand in apology before going on. “No, what I was actually asking your sister about, is Jon Snow’s bootyliciousness.”

 

At that, Sansa pulled her hand from his and punched him on his shoulder. He deserved it even if she should have known that whatever kindness Theon had acquired, he was still a shameless ass when he wanted to. Arya looked at them impassively, as if she didn’t care about their violent display - which to be fair she probably thought completely normal seeing how she behaved with that too-obviously-not-boyfriend of hers. Then, she quirked her eyebrow and said to Theon.

 

“You know, he is not into guys, right? Not to rain on your parade but you’re really not pretty enough to tempt someone like Jon to switch preferences.” 

 

“Pfff… little one, Jonie boy there is definitely not my style!” he replied in a laugh. “All that brooding and dark moods, eww… I, for one, see enough of moody uptight dorks at work all day not to want to come back home to one at night. Your sister, however…” he hinted casually.

 

Sansa tried to kick him in the shin, but the asshole just deflected her blow and she found herself biting on her lip to avoid yelping when her foot connected with the hard wood of the counter. Arya ignored purposefully the loud clang of noise and instead looked intently at Theon.

“And I thought you were smart, Greyjoy.” smirked Arya. “First, you should know that the last man to call me little one ended being sent off from the program because of what they called ‘an irrational paranoid fear of having his throat slashed at night’.” she calmly stated and Sansa knew this was actual truth because she’d heard her father arguing with Arya about how she couldn’t scare to death any jarhead that wanted to challenge her authority. Obviously, it had happened years ago, before Arya left the army to become a ‘security consultant’. Still, even now Arya didn’t regret a thing about messing so awfully with a man’s sanity, which told a lot about her bloodthirstiness.“You do know that Sansi-pants here does exactly the same stuff as you do, right? So, your argument is quite on the weak side. Moreover, you’re so wrong about all that.” she stately decisively.

 

“Really?” asked Theon and Sansa both.

 

Both Arya and Theon shot Sansa inquiring looks, with Arya’s more on the suspicious side while Theon’s were definitely smug and know-it-all-ish. She felt herself turn beet red and she turned to rummage in the cupboard to try and look nonchalant.

 

“It’s just… I’m actually interested in hearing your reasoning. You know… For curiosity’s sake…” she justified herself as she tried to regain her composure and started on getting the nachos ready.

 

“Well, we all know that you have a type. You’ve always had a very definite attraction - and quite cliché mind I tell you - to a certain type of men. You’ve always gone for the Prince Charming with clear eyes, blond hair and expensive tastes.” Arya started and Sansa had already on the tip of her tongue that as far as she knew, the men she’d dated were quite far from Prince Charming. Arya though, shot her a look and lifted a finger to stop her from interrupting. “I know that Joffrey, that ass from high school was far from Prince Charming, but he did look the deal. No offence, sis, but you tend to be a bit naive and mistake the packaging for the product, if you follow my meaning. And whatever his huge qualities, dark eyed, dark haired, humble Jon does not meet your ‘fuck and marry me’ criteria.”

 

Sansa glared at her little sister but couldn’t deny her words. She did tend to be naive when it came to men, which is why when her relationship with Harry fell through because of his proclivity towards cheating, she had decided to focus on her job. Then, of course, there had been that horrible year working at Bolton & Bolton’s and becoming the personal emotional punching ball of Ramsay Bolton. That her trust in humanity and men in particular had seriously eroded after those was an understatement. As a result, she had steered clear of any dating and the only thing that might look like a possible romantic entanglement were the dinners their ex-uncle Baelish insisted inviting her to, which she’d always refuse because, oh boy, how did the man creep her out. She was a bit lost in her thoughts when she heard Theon tut next to her:

 

“Tututu… My dear  _ little _ one, you do have all the facts right but you’re missing one crucial piece! Sansa doesn’t fall for the Princes but for the  _ Knights  _ and who does fit  _ that _ costume better than Jon Snow.” stated shrewdly Theon and with that he pointed a finger at Arya in a professorial posture.

 

Arya looked like she might argue but just a second after she opened her mouth, she closed it with a deep frown. Her head propped on her hand, she looked at Theon, smug in his certainty and then to Sansa, and Sansa wished once again that she would be able to stand Arya’s piercing look. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to when she was younger which is probably why she’d been so bitchy with her little sister then. If now their relationship had greatly improved, each other feeling at ease in their own skin, the assessment of Arya’s sharp eyes was still something that Sansa found difficult to deal with. Arya looked attentively at her and Sansa could feel herself fidget under her gaze.

 

“So, do you like Jon?” asked Arya tentatively.

 

“Jon is Jon.” replied Sansa in a hurry. “Now, I think, that everything is ready and I’d rather not be devoured by the wolves if they see us tittering there and delay the arrival for their food.” she justified once more as she took the plates of nachos, salsa and guacamole and started for the pool. All the way outside, she could feel Arya’s stare glued to her back and she had to force herself to relax. 


	2. Chapter 2

Relaxing, she thought to herself a bit later would be  _ really _ much easier if a part of her hadn’t turned into a lewd lecher that couldn’t manage to look at Jon without imagining what she would  _ very _ much like to do to his superb half naked body.  _ Down girl _ , she told herself.  _ He is your brother’s best friend since the 5th grade and just looks at you like a little sister and a helpless one at that. _ Because surely, since Jon Snow knew all about the horrible details of the psychological harassment she’d suffered as Ramsay’s assistant, he’d wouldn’t want to date such a wuss as her. Besides, there was all that deontological taboo of her being his former client and Jon was very stuffy about anything related to deontology. So much so that it had destroyed his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, a fiery red-headed lawyer that had been working for a competing firm.  _ Yes, it’s totally impossible and I’m not even going to try anything that might threaten Robb’s and Jon’s friendship _ , she resolved. Yet, when she saw Jon offering a desperate Rickon to have a look at his essay on the judiciary system of Westeros, she couldn’t help but inwardly sigh longingly.  _ Too bad that he actually does so well the knight in shining armour _ . Once again, she felt the laser eyes of her sister on her. She turned in time to see Theon elbowing Arya before murmuring something in her ear. Arya pursed her lips and answered back something that had Theon shaking his head. Sansa narrowed her eyes and steeled herself against the urge to shout at them to shut up. Instead, she cringed inwardly and tried to will them into stopping their bloody stupid line of thoughts.

 

“Okay now, what’s their deal?” murmured a deep velvety voice next to her ear.

 

She startled and turned to see Jon next to her, leaning toward the guacamole with a tortilla chip in one hand. He’d obviously slid in next to her to get closer to the food and his eyes were fixed on Arya and Theon in a slight frown of curiosity. She looked at him still surprised by his stealth. Of course, her eyes then started to wander and enjoy the proximity to look further into the bronzed surface of his muscles.  _ Dear gods, he is so nicely built _ , she thought. In an attempt to shake loose the lecherous thought, she closed her eyes and counted to three. However, the scent of chlorine, sunscreen and something so utterly Jon hit her and her breath caught in her throat. She opened her eyes as she heard a bit of snickering. At least, it was just in time to see Jon’s dark eyes meet hers and pointing toward Arya and Theon’s direction:

 

“So? What’s up with them?” he asked again, his eyes scrunched up still in that focused expression that made her want to press her finger between his eyebrows to smooth the fine lines. 

 

She could feel the itch at the tip of her fingertips and just had to scrub them on her denim shorts to try and shake the sensation. Jon looked at her and his gaze first went to her fingers before focusing back on her face. His eyes then dipped at her lips for a moment and she felt herself blush a bit. He didn’t mean anything about it, of course. Seven Hells, for all she knew, she was drooling and he was just trying not to say anything about it. As Jon started to look inquiringly at her, she remembered that he’d asked her twice a question and was still waiting on her answer. Suddenly, she felt foolish.

 

“I…. I don’t know really.” she stuttered, feeling on the verge of a very ridiculous swoon. “You know what, I think we need some music. Yes, music is good.” she started rambling panic settling in at the idea that she was going to make a fool of herself.

 

She got up abruptly and almost ran - well, not ran, walked briskly as her mother would say - to the house in order to put in something on. 

  
  


Jon’s frowning eyes followed a very flustered Sansa walking away and back to the Pool house. When he turned back to the group, he caught Theon’s Cheshire cat smile as he elbowed Arya. Jon’s frown increased. Normally, Theon was never far from Sansa. Not that Jon noticed. Well, he had to admit that he did notice. Not because he was jealous or anything - he was not the jealous type at all and Sansa was off limits, which was absolutely  _ fine  _ by him - it was just, well, he felt a bit protective about his best friend little sister. Yes,she was an grown woman, a smart and strong one at that, with the courage she’d shown when confronting that vermin of Bolton. Still, the core of her would always remain that kind-hearted, romantic girl and he couldn’t help but want to protect her. Especially when it came to men. Even if Theon was unabashedly and openly gay - Jon could still remember with a smile on his face when the man, at the unspeakable dismay of Robb, had put the moves on the barman at the very old-fashioned Northern pub they used as HQ on poker nights - Jon couldn’t help but worry that maybe Sansa could have her heart broken by the Ironborn. _ And denial is a river in Egypt _ , mocked a voice in his head.  _ No, no, it’s just worry. See, I’m worried now that they are not together _ , he argued silently.  _ Yes and you absolutely didn’t have to jump in the pool to cool yourself when she greeted you, all long legs and pretty curves encased in the tiniest denim shorts and most sinful golden one-piece swimsuit _ , countered the snarky voice. He was feeling himself scowl when he suddenly received a wet towel in the face:

 

“Jon Snow, no brooding at the pool house!” snickered Robb from his left.

 

Jon pushed the towel away and shook his curls before calmly no nonsensically answering:

 

“You do remember that this is actually the default face that genetics gave me, right?” 

 

“Ooh, and now we have the Dad thing. Fuck, I can already hear the sombre stuff growled in a northern brogue “Winter is coming”… Careful, Snow, you’re toying with the red line…” laughed off Rob with a playful nagging finger.

 

Jon Snow felt himself redden and covered his reaction by shooting the wet towel back to his friend.

 

“That’s your dad, not mine, you idiot!” he replied, his voice a little too high with outrage, if he was thinking on it. Making a conscious effort to lower his voice, he snarked back: “I thought that with that finance wizz job of yours, you would at least know enough to count that there are five Starks siblings and not six!”

 

However, Robb remained undeterred by either the wet towel or the teasing banter and argued back:

 

“Please! We all know that Dad is kind of the ultimate Dad and you’ve spent so much time at home during our childhood that I think people started to think that you were part of the brood! Also to be frank, your dad is so weird…” countered Robb and Jon asked himself once more why his best friend had chosen to specialize in financial law, when it was so obvious that he loved nothing more than to argue.

 

“Yeah, instead of growling some obscure northern motto, he would probably do something ridiculous like stare at the sky and declaim some weird ass poetry.” Jon acknowledged grumpily.

 

Robb laughed heartily at that and Jon fake-scowled at him. Truth be told his dad, Rhaegar, a genius engineer renowned for turning the family electrical business to a highly innovative digital firm, had always been a bit socially awkward. He was often impulsive and brusque, seldom explaining his decisions to others around him. He also had a very unusual love for poetry that resulted in Jon knowing what a haiku was at age 4 and being able to explain the core structural principles of cubist poetry at age 10. Compared to gentle, kind and down-to-earth Ned Stark, his father was a stern, intimidating man that his children looked upon as they would a living breathing-fire dragon. Jon had admittedly guiltily spent a lot of his childhood fantasizing that Robb’s father was his own as well. Now, though… Well, he wasn’t sure that he would resist cringing if Ned called him “son” given the nature of the thoughts that he had for the man’s eldest daughter.  _ Ahhhh, so now you admit that you’ve spent not an insignificant time thinking about how Sansa would look with her legs around your waist… or on your shoulders _ . This time any denial Jon would have been able to muster was drowned out by the image of the naked beautiful body of Sansa laid down before him as he got to taste her. He shifted uneasily, feeling himself starting to harden at the thought. And when he finally focused back on the conversation with his best friend, Robb was looking at him with a suspicious frown on his face. Feeling not just a bit flustered, Jon diverted by pointedly looking at the now empty bowl of guacamole. 

 

“Gods, you’re really a bunch of actual wolves! Sansa just brought it out like 5 minutes ago.” he said, gesturing to the sad last drop of green goo.

 

Rickon guffawed from across the table, obviously quite happy with being described as a wolf and probably a bit drunk on the margarita prepared by Theon. Jon couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty and uneasy with the idea of the high school senior getting into alcohol. After all, they were supposed to be adults, they shouldn’t encourage… He cut himself when he realised that he did actually sound like a dad. Now, he understood Robb’s point.  _ Do all dads have big boners for their mate’s little sister, though?  _ snarked his mind back at him. Jon decided to ignore the voice and decided to make sure that Rickon didn’t get totally wasted this afternoon but otherwise refrain from commenting. Robb sent him an amused look as if he could read his mind and Jon shrugged.

 

“Well, I guess, I’ll go and make up some more. No reason that Sansa be the only one to slave and feed you guys.” he said as he stood up.

 

From afar, he saw Theon bend another time toward Arya and he frowned a bit at them. Arya however, just batted the Ironborn away and rolled her eyes. However, when she met his eyes, Jon recognised the shrewd dissecting slant in hers. That little sister of his - because in a weird way, Arya had always been his little sister despite no actual blood relation - was definitely scheming about something. And Arya scheming should always make someone pause - maybe not Gendry, though, but that big oaf behaved like he was made of something indestructible in both mind and body, which to be fair, he probably was since he was still sane and sound after all these years not paying Arya’s scheming any mind. However, he couldn’t confront Arya now. Not only it would be useless as she obviously wouldn’t be truthful with so many people around them, but it would look ridiculous too. He could already imagine all the dismayed gazes he would receive if he tried to question Theon and Arya’s evil plan right now. No, better to take the empty bowl in his hand and go to the pool house’s kitchenette to actually make some guacamole. 

**Author's Note:**

> The inspiration of this story is Praise you from Fatboy slim because it had just this kind of fluffy/happy quality that I like in my favourites modern setting AU Jonsa stories. Also, I think that it illustrates quite well the relationship between Jon and Sansa in this, as Jon is quite literally the Knight in shining armour that battled the monster that is Ramsay.
> 
> And did you like that in this Ramsay was actually Sansa's boss rather than her boyfriend?


End file.
